WARNING POSSIBLE SPOILERS WITHIN!!
Tales of the Union.
Revenge, a Dish Best Served in the Cold of Space.
19th April 45. Kuiper 99. The six Spire class frigates of Task Group 2.1 closed Task Group 3.1 still keeping watch on the two Kuiper 99 alien’s vessels. Then Task Group 2.1 (Corrie, Edge, Flute, Saddle, Talus and Slab) carefully approached the beleaguered alien ships which had not moved even during the missile attacks in November. Stopping at 80 million klicks, nearly the max range of their new Firestar III missiles the six ships tried to open fire, and much to their delight, the ships echoed to the noise of the missiles leaving their launchers. Twenty minutes later the alien ship were obscured by nuclear explosions tearing at their structure. It took two salvos from each ship to ensure the destruction of the enemy vessels, and this time only one missile missed. Much to the surprise of the crews no life pods were detected ejecting from the mortally wounded vessels.
12th July 45. Delta Equulei/HIP 108380. Captain Louise Lord in the missile boat Dwarf was in command of Task Force 2; she had a battle plan for Task Force 2. Task Group 2.2.1, Dragon, Dryad, Dwarf, Gorgon, Grendal, Harpy, Hellcat, Hellhound, Hobgoblin (Phoenix Mk IIIB class missile boats armed only with the older Mk II Firestars), with the escorts Bohrium, Calcium, Iodine, Lithium, Manganese Rhenium were to enter HIP 108380 via the newly stabilised open jump point. Task Group 2.2.2 (Diligence, Harpy and Hellcat) and Task Group 2.2.3 (Discovery II, Hellhound and Hobgoblin) would use a squadron jump to enter HIP108380. If things went wrong there was of course no way back for most of the Task Force as there was only an open jump point at the Delta Equulei end of the wormhole. Once the jump point was clear the fleet scout Warden would join Task Group 2.2. Task Group 2.1 would hold the Delta Equulie end of the jump point. Captain Lord in Dwarf would transit with the bulk of Task Group 2.2. Once the system of HIP 108380 was secured a construction ship would transit in and open the wormhole from that end to enable two-way traffic.
At 09:25, shields charged the various squadrons jumped into the unknown. Thermal sensors immediately came on line revealing three hostiles camped out on the jump point, Cazadora 002, Alcanada 002 and Alcanada 003. The task groups made for the wreck of the Endurance while Hobgoblin and Hellcat and Hellhound targeted the enemy vessels. 40 seconds into the operations Lithium was subjected to a missile attack by 3 Hellcat A/S missiles, denting her shields. 55 seconds in and the Hellhound got her missiles away aimed at Alcanada 003, five seconds later Alacanada 003 disappeared in a maelstrom of nuclear detonations while Hellcat and Hobgoblin launched at Cazadora and Alacanada 002. Another five seconds and Cazadora 002 and Alacanada 002 were obscured by the storm of explosions that appeared suddenly around the vessels. When it cleared a motionless Cazadora 002 was left dead in space while Alacanada 002 was just wreckage. 1 min 30 seconds later ten missiles left Harpy to deliver the coup de grace to the mortally wounded alien ship. At the death of each alien vessel the expected life pods failed to appear! The pattern established in Kuiper 99 was continued in HIP 108380.
Harpy left the Task Group 2.2.2 and joined Task Group 2.2.1 while Discovery returned with Diligence to Delta Equulei taking Hellcat, Hellhound and Hobgoblin, missile tubes empty, with them. The Task Group 2.2 settled down to wait; the three Las Palmas class ships had not yet put in an appearance.
18:46 the scout Warden had joined the TG now the jump point was secure and its immense sensor switched on. The three Las Palmas were clearly illuminated 1200 million klicks away. The three 6,700 ton vessels were on approach at 6715 k/s.
14th July 45. HIP 108380. The vessels closed to 57 million klicks from Task Group 2.2, well within the engagement envelope of the Firestar II missiles especially with the longer ranged fire controls compensating for the enemy ECM. Captain Lord in the missile boat Dwarf gave the order to open fire. Dragon, Dwarf and Dryad hastened to obey. Five seconds later the three ships achieved a simultaneous launch. 19:24:25 the blizzard of missiles broke over the alien ships, explosions flared against the dark, the hammer blow of the seven-kiloton warheads flattened shields and vaporised hull plates, plasma lances burnt into the alien vessels’ interior. The attack left one ship wrecked, one retiring and one still advancing on the task Group. 25 seconds later Harpy and Gorgon loosed their missiles leaving only Grendal with missiles in the Task Group.
19:41 Once more the star field was speckled with bright points of light, marking the death of more alien warships as the last fleeing ship, Las Palmas 004 was destroyed along with Las Palmas 003, which had still been on approach. Still no life pods appeared.
The Diligence and Discovery II with GE Ashen Shugar II-001 returned to HIP 108380 and began to survey the planets and moons of the system. Not long after came the construction vessel Galain 001.
19th September 45. HIP 108380. As the Ashen Shugar II-001 carried out a geological survey of HIP 108380 the alarms started sounding. The Survey officer announced “active installations detected! Thermal signature strength 15 on HIP 108380-A VI - Moon 7. Race ID: Kuiper 99 Aliens.” This was the first of three alien listening posts located in HIP 108380 discovered by Ashen Shugar II-001, the others being on HIP 108380-A IV – moon 13 and Asteroid #316,. It would be over two months before troops could be brought in to occupy the bases.
12th December 45. HIP 108380. The attack on one of the larger of the alien colonies on HIP 108380-A VI - Moon 7 began with some trepidation as to the opposition that would be encountered. However the colony was unoccupied and invested without loss. The same proved true for the other two bases. HIP 108380-A VI - Moon 7 had three DSTS, as did HIP 108380-A IV – moon 13. Asteroid #316 had only two but the bunkers at this base revealed 101 of the impressive Hellcat missiles.
Examination of the bunker provided the Union with their first picture of the Kuiper 99 aliens. To a human with vanished knowledge of the fauna of a long gone Earth the Kuiper 99 aliens looked like a large Koala bear, if you ignored the three inch fangs protruding from their lips or the claws extending from their seven digits on the end of each of their six limbs, only one inch long on their “hands”, three inches long on their second “hands” but at least seven inches long on their feet, and the musculature to use these natural weapons to disembowel an adversary and a look in their eyes that gave every indication they wouldn’t hesitate. So actually it was nothing like a Koala. The base had been occupied by its mechanical defenders for a long time, there was no trace other than the images recovered from the computer systems that the base had ever been inhabited by organic beings.
8th February 46. Delta Equulei. Out of an unexplored jump point in Delta Equulei the GE Ashen Shugar II-001 located Xi Pegasi. Three wrecks were present in system, two might have belonged those of the Kuiper 99 aliens. One was positively identified as the wreck of a Kuiper 99 Aliens Cazadora class. The wreck was cold in terms of radioactivity and if it had been destroyed by any form of nuclear warhead it must have been a long time ago.
29th February 46. Xi Pegasi. The survey of Xi Pegasi-A II - moon 3 found a ruined city on the moon. The second ruin found in a system in which evidence of a destroyed population of another race and vessels or wreckage belonging to the Kuiper 99 aliens. Xi Pegasi-A II – moon 3 was moved up the list of potentially colony sites. The Kuiper 99 aliens were beginning to be looked on with some suspicion.
14th June 46. Avalon. The first of the stretched Endurance Mk II jump ships completed in the Gram orbit ‘yard complex. Echo would soon follow Endurance off the ways and the older vessels would undergo refit as they became available. The class has been enlarged to 11,200 tons so the Spire class frigates can now transit with the Task Force main body and make squadron jumps if required. For the first time Union jump ships will be armed with two 20cm X-ray laser mounts and a turreted dual use 15cm quad X-ray laser, dropping any pretence that they are survey vessels. (The original Discovery class mounted gravitational and geological sensors.) This is the first use of lasers by the Union but it will not supplant the gauss cannon as the primary weapon on the escorts.
Endurance Mk II class Jump Ship 11,400 tons 1141 Crew 5842 BP TCS 228 TH 840 EM 990
10526 km/s JR 6-1000 Armour 3-45 Shields 33-300 Sensors 42/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 26 PPV 35.5
Maint Life 3.04 Years MSP 2082 AFR 159% IFR 2.2% 1YR 338 5YR 5063 Max Repair 1080 MSP
J11400(6-1000) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 11400 tons Distance 1000k km Squadron Size 6
Starr Industries Inertial Confinement Fusion Drive E4 (15) Power 160 Fuel Use 40% Signature 56 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 330,000 Litres Range 130.3 billion km (143 days at full power)
Epsilon R300/15 Shields (11) Total Fuel Cost 165 Litres per day
Quad 15cm C6 X-Ray Laser Turret (1x4) Range 420,000km TS: 32550 km/s Power 24-24 RM 7 ROF 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 4 4
20cm C10 X-Ray Laser (2) Range 600,000km TS: 12500 km/s Power 10-10 RM 7 ROF 5 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 8 7 6
CIWS-320 (2x10) Range 1000 km TS: 32000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
Fire Control S04 300-8000 (1) Max Range: 600,000 km TS: 8000 km/s 98 97 95 93 92 90 88 87 85 83
Fire Control S12 225-32000 (1) Max Range: 450,000 km TS: 32000 km/s 98 96 93 91 89 87 84 82 80 78
Solid-core Anti-matter Power Plant Technology PB-1 (1) Total Power Output 1.6 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Solid-core Anti-matter Power Plant Technology PB-1 (1) Total Power Output 3.2 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Solid-core Anti-matter Power Plant Technology PB-1 (5) Total Power Output 40 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor MR155-R16 (1) GPS 3456 Range 155.5m km Resolution 16
Active Search Sensor MR17-R1 (1) GPS 96 Range 17.3m km Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH3-42 (1) Sensitivity 42 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 42m km
ECM 30
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
14th July 46. Avalon. Seeker and Sentry (Searcher Mk II class fleet scouts) were completed in the Excalibur orbital ‘yard complex. There was a need for at least one of these vessels to be attached to each Task Force with the preference being two which would allow for some redundancy. However that was not possible at this moment due to financial constraints.
Searcher Mk II class Scout 10,000 tons 959 Crew 3772.65 BP TCS 200 TH 825 EM 600
8250 km/s Armour 1-41 Shields 20-300 Sensors 275/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 10 PPV 0
Maint Life 2.98 Years MSP 2358 AFR 80% IFR 1.1% 1YR 397 5YR 5952 Max Repair 1800 MSP
Starr Industries Internal Confinement Fusion Drive E7.2 (15) Power 110 Fuel Use 72% Signature 55 Armour 0 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 445,000 Litres Range 111.3 billion km (156 days at full power)
Gamma R300/12 Shields (10) Total Fuel Cost 120 Litres per day
CIWS-250 (1x6) Range 1000 km TS: 25000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
Active Search Sensor MR1980-R100 (1) GPS 180000 Range 1,980.0m km Resolution 100
Thermal Sensor TH25-275 (1) Sensitivity 275 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 275m km
ECM 20
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
[image]Gal Map 49.jpg[/image]
24th June 47. V439 Andromedae. Exploration of a jump point in the Xi Pegasi system has revealed the new system of V439 Andromedae. A system of little importance, a K0-v star accompanied by a lone super-Jovian and a handful of comets.
16th August 47. Xi Pegasi. The ruins on Xi Pegasi-A II - Moon 3 have been fully surveyed by the Madri Mayachari Xenologist Team. The alien race which inhabited the planet was identified as the Saginaw Confederation and their language and symbology was translated. These aliens were only TL 2, someway behind the Union. 151 abandoned installations were found which may be recovered by an engineer brigade. Following the precedent set with Kuiper 99-B II, Xi Pegasi-A II - Moon 3 would in future be known as Saginaw.
4th March 48. S.W. Burnham 157. GE Ashen Shugar II-001discovered the S.W. Burnham 157 system out of Xi Pegasi. The system was a binary system consisting of a K1-v and M0-v stars, both had substantial planetary systems. S.W. Burnham 157-A II was an HI 0 planet and in the B component S.W. Burnham 157-B II was an HI 1.9 planet while S.W. Burnham 157-B IV was an HI 2.42 planet.. Three wrecks, two of 13,400 tons and one of 6,700 tons were also detected. They did not belong to any class the Union had previously encountered.
22nd October . Wolf 1373. An exploration of a jump point in the 31 Aquilae system has revealed the new system of Wolf 1373. This M3-v red dwarf had an extensive family of eight planets orbiting it accompanied by dozens of moons along with a handful of comets and even a asteroid belt. Wolf 1373-A II was a moderate good terraforming candidate with good reserves of duranium, uridium and vendarite well into the megaton range.
30th March 48. S.W. Burnham 157. The GE Ashen Shugar II-001 surveyed a couple of gravitational survey locations then continued on to S.W. Burnham 157-A II. She was operating without active sensors switched on. Her thermal sensor detected a ship of the Kuiper 99 aliens of a new class designated Formentor 002 at 23.5 million klicks. The Ashen Shugar II-001 reversed course and made a run for the jump point. Fortunately the Ashen Shugar II-001 was faster at 7333 k/s than Formentor 002 at 6715 k/s. Unfortunately the Ashen Shugar II-001 was already in missile range and 17 Bugbear missiles hit the vessel, most of the damage inflicted by the first salvo was bearable, but the loss of an engine was fatal, and three more salvos were inbound. The ansible distress signal was triggered and received in Star Corps HQ, there was nothing they could do but plot their response. Task Force 3 was directed to seek revenge for the loss of Ashen Shugar II-001
8th May 48. S.W. Burnham 157. Task Force 3 reached S.W. Burnham and the fleet scout Guardian activated its sensors. The fleet consisted of the JS Discovery II, the frigates Corrie, Edge, Flute, Pinnacle, Saddle, Slab, Talus, the fleet scout Guardian, escorts Hafnium, Strontium, Zirconium, Barium, Iodine and Bromine and the missile boats Elf, Efreet, Gargoyle, Ghoul, Giant, Goblin, Unicorn, Werewolf and Wyvern. Due to the lack of jump ships the Task Force made a standard transit and fortunately the jump point was empty.
11th May 48. S.W. Burnham 157.As Task Force 3 made its way in system 1120 million klicks from the jump point, two contacts appeared on the sensors, two vessels of the Marola class, 6700 tons. With the presence of an HI 0 planet in system everyone in the task Force wondered if they had finally found the home world of the Destroyers?
An hour later another new vessel designated Centinela 002 class appeared on the Guardians long-range scanners. Then approximately an hour after that at 01:15 on the 12th three more contacts entered the sensor envelope of the Guardian, two were of yet two more unknown classes designated Pizzaro 002 and Neptuno 002 both of 13,400 tons, they were accompanied by Formentor 002, the latter of 20,100 tons.
12th May 48. S.W. Burnham 157.19:16 Task Force 3 began to extract its revenge. Efreet, Elf and Gargoyle targeted the approaching alien ships and opened fire as they crossed the 60 million k line. 20 seconds later the three ships shook as they conducted a full salvo launch and 49 Firestar II missiles left the tubes of each vessel. 19:22 Task Force 3 began to reverse course as it was suspected that the aliens were launching their own missiles. 19:36 and the two leading Manola class disintegrated as 98 missiles burst around them. One minute 40 seconds later the remaining 49 missiles found the trailing Centinela and it suffered the same fate as the two Marolas. Once more no life pods were detected leaving the stricken vessels.
13th May 48, S.W. Burnham 157.The next three enemies were somewhat larger and would mean expending the last of the Phoenix class missile loads and use a significant fraction of the Spire class’s missile complement. As soon as the enemy ships crossed the 81 million klick line Task Force 3 opened fire. While the Spire class got their weapons away the Phoenix could not engage until 73 million klicks due to a less effective fire control. The first 60 missiles were away on their own. All now depended on the alien’s missile defence capabilities.
08:05. Finally in range of the of the Phoenix fire controls the fleet recommenced fire upon the Kuiper 99 alien warships. 15 seconds later the missiles were on their way.
Five seconds after the launch of the missile strike the thermal bloom of enemy incoming was picked up by the fleet. Flute was shaken by three 8-kiloton missile hits on her shields as the escorts failed to intercept all the incoming Hellcat missiles.
08:12 The first sixty Firestars inbound to Fomentor 002 charged in on their target, 24 died to AMM fire and point defence. 36 hit but were insufficient to seriously damage the ship, although an occasional puff of atmosphere was observed leaking from the vessel.
08:28 Formentor 002 was unable to stop the tidal wave of missiles aimed at her and blew up after several dozen missiles turned space around her into an imitation of the core of a star. At the same time Pizarro 002 was overwhelmed by 49 Firestar missiles launched from Unicorn as they torn into her thin hull nuclear powered lances of plasma gutted the ship. Two minutes later Werewolf’s salvo reached Neptuno 002 but was insufficient to totally destroy her; they left her dead in space, a wreck bleeding atmosphere and shedding debris. FG Edge administered the coup de grace with a follow up salvo of just five missiles, enough to scatter the wreckage that was Neptuno 002 which was being held together solely by the weak gravity field of its own mass.
14th May 48. S.W. Burnham 157. Task Force 3 approached second planet out from the star when Guardian’s sensors detected two more Kuiper 99 alien vessels. Group Commander Welling decided to return to base at Kuiper 99 and reload as the Spire class had only 24 missiles left each and the missile boats were empty. The new vessels were designated Mistral 002 and Cabo Fradera 002 and appeared to be orbital structures.
6th August 48. S.W. Burnham 157. Task Force 3 returned to SW Burnham 157 rearmed. As they closed on the former position of Mistral 002 and Cabo Fradera 002 another contact lit up the sensors in addition to the other two contacts for Mistral 002 and Cabo Fradera 002 which were apparently immobile in orbit of S.W. Burnham-A II. The new contact was identified as Tramontana 004.
8th August 48. S.W. Burnham 157. The two alien bases took just 98 missiles from Efreet and Elf before they shattered, no defensive fire was detected. Their purpose remained a mystery.
17th August 48 S.W. Burnham 157. TG3.2.3 (Saddle, Slab and Talus) chased down Tramontana 004 and crept within range then fired two salvos each. The ship was destroyed as space around it erupted when sixty Firestars detonated.
19th August 48. S.W. Burnham 157. The rest of Task Force 3 moved to S.W. Burnham 157-A II, and at seven million klicks eighteen size 24 mines were detected in orbit of the planet. Talus and Slab opened fire using their Firestar missiles, it was overkill, but the fleet would have to close to 600,000 klicks otherwise and risk triggering the mines. The orbital mines were easily destroyed before they were able to launch any submunitions. Much to the disappointment of the entire Task Force the planet was unoccupied; it was not the home planet of the Kuiper 99 aliens or even one of their colonies.
23rdh November 48. SAO 89188. GE Ashen Shugar II-005 was peacefully surveying SAO 89188, when the sensor officer sounded the alarm, four Cazadora class warships, designated 003, 004, 005 and 006, and one Las Palmas class, 005, were detected closing the vessel. The sighting report was received in Star Corps HQ, there was no undue alarm as Ashen Shugar II-005 should be quite capable of outrunning her assailants. What happened next can only be surmised, but no more was heard from the ship.
3rd December 48. Gram – Avalon-A II. Star Corps HQ was concerned. Ashen Shugar II-005 was overdue by eleven days. After the engagements in HIP108380 and S.W. Burnham 157 concern was growing in Survey Command. The steady loss of ships was draining the confidence of the Command. Task Force 2 was detailed to investigate the disappearance of the Ashen Shugar II-005. But it would be early February before the force would be available. A review of current survey techniques and methodology was begun. Many survey captains preferred to survey running silent. They reasoned that their search sensors had such a pitiful range that they would be no better off and just advertise their presence. But this gave the Kuiper 99 aliens the opportunity to creep up on an unsuspecting survey vessel and engage it before they were revealed by the passive sensors on the survey vessel. However equipment had improved and now search sensors out ranged the Destroyer’s missiles.
Specifications were drawn up to modify the Ashen Shugar Mk II craft and the design process for a new class begun. Unfortunately there was not the ‘Yard capacity to refit Survey Commands Ships. Until the vessels were refitted or replaced they would have to make do with the pathetic active search sensor MR12-R100 Range 12.6m km fitted to the Ashen Shugar Mk II. So until this came to pass survey ships were still recommended to run silent. Edit: posted some unrevised text in error3rd January 49. S.W. Burnham 157. A partially intact colony was found on S.W. Burnham 157-A II. Another vanished alien race accompanied by an active Kuiper 99 alien presence in the system! This was the third encounter with forces of the Kuiper 99 aliens in a system which containing the remains of an alien high tech civilisation and xenologists were beginning to draw the inescapable conclusion that the Kuiper 99 aliens were associated with the destruction of these alien colonies. Especially as they also appear to have seeded the ruins on Stratham with booby-traps. What could possibly be the reason for the deadly traps? Was it to try and prevent others from looting what they regarded as rightfully theirs? The Kuiper 99 aliens began to be called the Destroyers.
4th January 49. S.W. Burnham 157. A Destroyer base was located on S.W. Burnham 157-A 1. For the first time the orbital scan revealed the presence of ground forces.
6th February 49. SAO 89188. Task Force 2 made the jump into SAO 89188 and then waited a couple of minutes for the sensors to stabilise. As soon as they came on line the wreck of the AS-II 005 was evident just 697.5 million klicks from the jump point - along with an icon marking the presence in system of Las Palmas 005, a Destroyer warship! Crews were already closed up so when action stations were sounded it was a simple matter of raising shields. As soon as the Task Force was in range Hydra took the alien under fire. 25 Firestorm III missiles were on their way, but so were the enemy Hellcat missiles. The Task Force had to endure the three missile salvos with the occasional leaker impacting on shields. The 25 missiles met the Las Palmas 005 head on; 9-kilotons of nuclear devastation per missile took it completely by surprise but were not sufficient to eliminate the alien ship. But by now the Spire Mk II frigates with their Firestar Mk IIs were in range and spat salvos of missiles towards it. Col, Cliff and Mountain launched on the crippled alien. Thirty Firestar II’s met the alien and split the hull asunder spilling the contents into the void.
7th February 49. SAO 89188. The Task Force had gone not 300 million klicks in system from the jump point when four Destroyer Cazadora class vessels registered on the extreme edge of the fleet scout Warden’s sensor envelope.
9th February SAO 89188. At 02:10 The Task Force came within engagement range of the Firestar III missiles embarked on the Phoenix Mk IIIB class frigates. Imp, Kobold, Kraken and Medusa loosed off 100 missiles at the enemy. As the missile strike neared the enemy, their Hellcat missiles bore in on the Task Force. Thirty minutes after launching the Firestars hit the enemy squadron Cazadora 003 was destroyed, 004, 005 and 006 survived, but had been grievously hurt, 006 was dead in space and 004 and 005 were reduced to a third their previous velocity. Once in range the Col and Cliff and Mountain (Spire class frigates) engaged them with their less effective Firestar II missiles. All this time the Task Force was enduring the rain of Hellcat missiles but few made it through to dent the shields of the Spire class frigates. It took only a few missiles to send the alien vessels to oblivion. The Task Force continued on into the inner system, fully expecting to find more of the bases found in S.W. Burnham. There were not to be disappointed. Destroyer bases were located on SAO 89188-A IV – moon 2 and SAO 89188-A III – moon 12.
16th February 49. S.W. Burnham 157The 6th Assault Division had reached S.W. Burnham 157-A I and unloaded troops, but this time there were defenders. Not many, but they were there, inevitably they were of the automated variety to the disappointment of all. The action kicked off with the heavy armour of the Leviathan brigades surrounding the enemy base while the assault troops went in to clear the buildings of the crawlers and hoppers.
21st February 49. S.W. Burnham-157. It took five days hard fighting for the assault infantry to clear the mechanical defenders from the alien base and the DSTS. It took another few days to locate and secure the storage bunkers and their stockpile of 255 Hellcat A/S missiles and 4271 Bugbear AMMs. Only the mechanoids occupied the base. It was becoming a curiosity that the organic remains of a Destroyer alien had yet to be found.
3rd March 49. Giclas 126-49. Ashen Shugar II-003 located the system of Giclas 126-49 out of an unexplored jump point in Wolf 906, This was a M2-v red dwarf with seven planets in attendance with dozens of moons and a couple of asteroid belts. The two innermost planetoids were well endowed with most TN elements at excellent availabilities.
11th March 49. Ross193. Ashen Shugar II-003 discovered the system of Ross 193, the B component of which had a planet with an HI of 0.58. Ashen Shugar II-003 began a jump point survey. This was a complex binary system, a D9-Vii white dwarf and a M4-v red dwarf both with substantial planetary systems. Further Ross 193-B II had nine of the eleven TN elements in multi-megaton quantities most at reasonable to good availabilities only mercassium was in limited supply of which there was only 150,000 tons or so at 0.1 availability. Unfortunately sorium seemed to be entirely absent from the system.
26th March 49. Saginaw - Xi Pegasi-A II - Moon 3. 50th Engineer Brigade disturbed an underground vault on Saginaw - Xi Pegasi-A II - Moon 3 that contained more of the hostile robotic soldiers belonging to the Destroyers. Another civilisation who’s corpse had been seeded with death. However the Union were not unprepared for this eventuality and the 1st Leviathan Division were ready to destroy the mechanical vermin left by the Destroyers. Unfortunately it was the 59th replacement battalion which took the brunt of the cybernetic attack as they were conducting manoeuvres nearby. The unit gallantly fought to prevent the alien incursion reaching the habitation block of recently arrived settlers, tried and failed, 250,000 colonists perished along with 43 % of the battalion as they strove heroically to stem the tide of mechanical horrors.
The armoured brigades were not long in avenging their comrades and caused significant losses to the automatons, destroying or incapacitating 15-20% of the clockwork commandos.
1st April 49. Saginaw - Xi Pegasi-A II - Moon 3. The 1st Leviathans continental siege units rolled over the Destroyer automatons, crushing many beneath their tracks. The cybernetic soldiers had little chance of penetrating the armour on those behemoths. Approximately three quarters of the mechanisms of two mechanoid battalions were destroyed without hope of repair; although given the amount of spare parts lying around it should have been possible had there been the time to attempt it. Unfortunately the destruction of the mechanical horrors did not prevent some of the cybernetic demons penetrating another accommodation block and killing twenty-five thousand settlers in a further atrocity when they torched the building.
6th April 49. Saginaw - Xi Pegasi-A II - Moon 3. The armoured battalions pushed the automatons back to their vault and using what had now become a standard approach collapsed it on the few remaining defenders, entombing them, then an engineer brigade sealed it with a duroplast cap. It took only a few days to clear the strays from all the nooks and crannies of the colony.
26th April 49. 15 Sagittae. Ashen Shugar II-004 was following up some of the astrogation data captured when Imperial Devarian fell. 15 Sagittae was on the star maps but had never been visited by Union vessels. It was thus a surprise to Squadron Leader Dixon to discover an enclave of pre-conquest Imperial Devaria on 15 Sagittae-A II. To be sure it was a small colony with a thermal and EM output of only 55 but who knew what else survived. More importantly there were three systems marked on Imperial charts without links to any known star, what did they harbour? Dixon made an urgent report to Star Corps HQ via ansible.
The message from Squadron Leader Dixon arrived at Star Corps HQ much to their consternation. This was an unexpected development! The 7th Sky & Light Infantry (MI) Division was recalled from Stratham – Kuiper 99-B-II and ordered to bring the wayward colony under Union control. However it would be nearly nine months before the 7th Sky & Light could be transported to their destination owing to the lack of jump ships large enough the take the Troop Transport Task Group through the jump points and gates did not yet link all the intervening systems. The real question was - where were the Imperial troop transports and their jump ships? Where there any warships still on the loose? 15 Sagittae was four jumps from Devaria and three from Avalon. The only known route to 15 Sagittae was through Avalon! A fleet of the size required for this type of operation had not been observed transiting through Avalon.
7th May 49. 15 Sagittae. Squadron Leader Jennifer Dixon began to curse her choice of Survey as her speciality, it had seemed so romantic in the Academy and promotion had been rapid, but reality now intruded. Sure she had done well, but now she has found a second Imperial Devaria colony on 15 Sagittae-A II, identical to the first! The EM and thermal emissions were again 55.
29th June 49. HN Pegasi. GE Ashen Shugar II-010 located HN Pegasi out of Gliese 728, an uninteresting yellow G0-v star with no orbiting bodies of any description.
28th August 49. Excalibur – Avalon-A IV. The fleet scouts Pioneer and Scanner (Searcher Mk II class) left the Imperial No.1 Yard on Excalibur - Avalon-A IV bound for Carrier Groups 1 and 2 for their initial deployment.
24th October 49. Mu Cygni. Ashen Shugar II-007 found Mu Cygni out of Gliese 727, a planet in the B component had an HI of 0.58, an ideal terraforming and colony candidate. In fact there were at least three terraforming candidates spread between the A and B components. The system lacked some of the TN elements required for an industrial centre and thus its fate would be as a farming, mining and resort system.
12th November 49. Gliese 715. Ashen Shugar II-009 discovered Gliese 715 out of Gliese 727. It was a K3-v star with quite an extensive solar system, Gliese 715-A V - Moon 1 had an HI of 1.9 but no minerals discovered on the first pass. There were however extensive deposits of duranium, neutronium and uridium in the system.
20th November 49. Gliese 726. Exploration of a jump point in the Gliese 727 system by Ashen Shugar II-009 has revealed the new system of Gliese 726, a planetless K5-v star.
6th December 49. Gram – Avalon-A II. The stock pile of now obsolete Mace planetary defence missiles was scrapped. These missiles defeated the first Imperial Devarian Incursion into Avalon in 34. They have been replaced by the new Hammer planetary defence missile which had an active homing system.
Hammer Speed: 50,000 km/s End: 50m Range: 150m km WH: 25 Size: 15
TH: 233 / 140 / 70 - Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
5TH February 50. Gliese 824. Ashen Shugar II-008 discovered Gliese 824 exploring jump points out of Gliese 818. Gliese 824 was a lone K2-v star without any companions.
22nd February50. 51 Pegasi. Exploration of a jump point in the Woolley 9773 system by Ashen Shugar I-002 has revealed the new system of 51 Pegasi, a G5-v star without an orbiting body to its name.
15th March 50. Gram – Avalon-A II. A new Shipping Line was incorporated on Gram – Avalon-A II: Wang Transport Line
17th March 50. SAO 89188. In addition to the Destroyer bases already discovered a destroyed alien outpost was found on SAO 89188-A IV – moon 8. The list of murdered alien races was growing.
The CV Task Group Khedive was dispatched to patrol the SAO 89188 system in case there was still an Imperial fleet which might pose a threat to the Union. CV Task Group Khedive consisting of the carriers Khedive and Thane, scout Sentinel and the escorts Niobium, Seaborgium, Tantalum, Technetium, Tungsten and Vanadium. Each carrier embarked 10 Sandstone class FAC.